"Three years ago, as a Jew attending a UU Sunday service for the first time with a friend, I could not have guessed that the following month I would become a member, six months later I would feel safe enough to come out as a lesbian, and two years later I would stand up in a service and announce my upcoming holy union service! As a Unitarian Universalist I am free to choose my lifestyle, encouraged to explore my spirituality, and given the opportunity to learn and grow with people who celebrate diversity. I feel that I've truly found a home and a family."

—Leni Brown

First Unitarian Society

Plainfield, New Jersey

"As much acceptance as my partner and I have dared ask for, we have gotten. That is not saying it is always been everything we wanted, but the atmosphere and attitude are of welcoming and encouraging diversity. Unitarian Universalism lets me be me-all of the various parts that make up the whole me."

—Helene Haapala

First Universalist Church

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The living tradition of Universalism extends love and acceptance to all people, and Unitarianism recognizes the inherent good of all persons. At a time when some faith traditions are expressing deep ambivalence about whether to truly welcome bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons and others continue to express open hostility toward anyone who is of a minority in sexual orientation or gender identity, Unitarian Universalism is deepening its long-standing commitment to the full inclusion and affirmation of all persons-without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

In June of 1970, the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association passed its first General Resolution supporting the bisexual, gay, and lesbian communities in their struggle for equal rights and acceptance.

Since then, in the face of the widespread homophobia embedded in North American culture, the denomination has repeatedly advocated for persons of a minority in sexual orientation or gender identification-supporting human rights and legal equality for all; creating and funding the http://www.uua.org/obgltc/ Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Concerns (OBGLTC); encouraging ministers and congregations to conduct services of union for same-gender couples; supporting Interweave (Unitarian Universalists for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns)-a membership organization of caring religious liberals; and advocating that openly bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender ministers not face employment discrimination.

The more than one thousand member congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association have been encouraged to include and affirm bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons in every aspect of their community life-and an ever-growing number have actively and intentionally done so.

The Unitarian Universalist commitment to become a safe and affirming place for all persons regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity took on new meaning and intensity with the passage of a resolution at the 1989 General Assembly, instituting the Welcoming Congregation program.

Acknowledging that every UU congregation reflects our society's homophobia to a degree, the delegates voted to initiate a sustained and systematic program designed to help congregations create a truly welcoming environment for all persons. In 1996, in order to be fully inclusive, the UUA recognized the need to revise the Welcoming Congregation program to address the concerns of transgender people. These "welcoming congregations" would:

* Be inclusive and expressive of the concerns of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons at every level of congregational life.

* Celebrate the lives of all people and welcome same-gender couples, recognizing their committed relationships and equally affirming displays of caring and affection with regard to sexual orientation.

* Seek to nurture ongoing dialogue between bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, and transgender persons, and create deeper trust and sharing.

* Advocate for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people, attending to legislative developments and working to promote justice, freedom, and equality in the larger society.

* Speak out when the rights of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people are at stake.

The UUA Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Concerns has created a wide variety of educational and programmatic materials to help Unitarian Universalists address these complex issues-and hundreds of congregations have received and used these resources. Unitarian Universalism, which has long had as its first guiding Principle the commitment to "affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person," has come further than any other North American faith tradition in welcoming and affirming bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons.

And yet the struggle against heterosexism and gender dualism in both the denomination and society at large continues. Unitarian Universalism is working hard to realize the dream of religious communities where everyone is welcomed and cherished, just for who they are.

* The Reverend Scott W. Alexander is a contributing editor of The Welcoming Congregation: Resources for Affirming Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and/or Transgender People. Currently he is a minister at River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda, Maryland.